Hominids

Like all other creatures on earth hominids adapted to their environment through physiological change. But, at a certain point, they began to adapt by means of culture. They were, therefore, an entirely new type of creature--possessing capabilities that had not existed before. Rather than undergoing a few small adaptations that took place over the course of hundreds of thousands of years, these new creatures engaged in continuous adaptation via culture. Their cultures were not static over very long periods. To the extent that new circumstances required additional adaptations they were capable of making them and, to the extent that new adaptations proved superior to previous versions, they were capable of replacing the old with the new. The archaeological study of the prehistoric emergence of the cultural animal has led to the classification of prehistory in terms of periods defined by very broad cultural adaptations. Seven of the broadest of these periods (beginning with the oldest) are known as the Lower Paleolithic, Middle Paleolithic, Upper Paleolithic, Mesolithic, and Neolithic eras and the Bronze and Iron Ages. Each classification involved thousands of years of human cultural adaptation and is characterized by the general development of new technologies (or improvements on older ones) and the development of new forms of social organization.

Lower Paleolithic is the term applied to the culture of Homo erectus, a species that probably evolved by at least 1.8 mill

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there was increased working of bone and antler. All these tools show variations in style that are specific to various locales over specific periods of time. Another important aspect of Upper Paleolithic culture that indicated growing distinctions among groups was "the acquisition of materials from distant sources" which probably came about through "structural exchanges involving cooperation with other groups" (Fagan 132). The types of artifacts of material culture increased enormously during the Upper Paleolithic. Bone needles have been found, for example, which indicate that tailored clothing could be made in order to adapt to severe weather. But one of the most remarkable changes of the Upper Paleolithic had to do with adaptation of a new type. The various Upper Paleolithic groups produced art--sculpture and paintings--that may have possessed a broad range of functions. One of the most common forms of art from the middle of the Upper Paleolithic was the type of female figurine known as a "Venus" in which "the sexual characteristics are emphasized at the expense, for example, of the head and features" (Clark 54). These ivory or stone figures are found at sites from France and Italy to Southern Russia and have generally b

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